By: Momodou Justice Darboe
Shops in the Serekunda suburb of Old Jeshwang were last weekend raided by men, who identified themselves as members of the police and army, ostensibly to enforce the 2015 Tobacco Control Act but arrested shopkeepers said they were forced to pay money before they could regain their freedom.
Multiple sources have informed this medium that the men swooped on the shops in the suburb on Friday and Saturday nights, arresting shopkeepers found selling cigarettes in single sticks.
According to some of the arrested shopkeepers, they were bundled in vehicles and whisked away before they were asked to pay money.
“They took us to a particular place in the suburb before they asked us to pay money to regain our freedom.
They also went away with our cigarettes,” a shopkeeper, who was speaking under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, told this reporter as he narrated how men in military fatigues “raided” his shop.
“Some men, identifying themselves as police officers, were on Friday scouring the area for shops selling cigarettes in single sticks. They arrested some shopkeepers and said they were confiscating the opened cigarette boxes,” said another.
Many shopkeepers narrated similar stories.
When contacted for more details on the reported police raids, the deputy spokesperson of the Gambia Police Force (GPF) Cadet ASP Modou Musa Sisawo said he wasn’t aware of any police operation, regarding the enforcement of the 2015 Tobacco Control Act. He promised to get back to us after contacting the relevant units but did not reach out to us till the time of going to press.
The head of the Non-communicable Disease Control Unit of the Health Ministry Omar Badjie told this medium that the reported raids were not conducted in collaboration with Health Ministry staff but said police officers, public health workers, customs officers, among others, can enforce the laws, prohibiting the sale of single stick.
